Ripples of Silence
by Demeterr
Summary: When she witnessed an event she was not meant to see, it acted as a catalyst that disrupted her normal life. Knowing the truth but being unable to speak it, her only hope lies in finding the mysterious shinobi. -- Hinata.centric --


Ripples of Silence - When she witnessed an event she was not meant to see, it acted as a catalyst that disrupted her normal life. Knowing the truth but being unable to speak it, her only hope lies in finding the mysterious shinobi.

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-Chapter One-

He awoke to the sounds of footsteps on his roof. They were not loud footsteps, but the fact that they were soft quiet ones that had awoken him. He had never slept heavily since the incident, and his mind was already clear, not groggy with sleep that others would usually experience. That was why many called him a good shinobi, but he cared little about that. Within moments he was on the roof, facing a senpai in age, but not skill.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"We've been given orders to exterminate him," the senpai informed, his identity and voice muffled by the mask he wore.

"Him?" he responded languidly, although his eyes that had already bled to a crimson colour.

The senpai said nothing, a wise decision on his behalf as even he knew better than to anger this kouhai. Instead he reached into his vest to withdraw a crumpled piece of paper. It was snatched from his hand immediately, unfolded so it could be read.

"Who authorised this?" he demanded, the paper crumpling in his hand.

There was a pause.

"His sensei did," came the delayed reply from the senpai.

Upon hearing those words he disappeared, the only thing remained behind was the crumpled paper that drifted slowly to the ground. It didn't take long to discover his target, after all despite his attempts to suppress his chakra, it was too huge and too horrifying familiar to him. The stench of blood caught his attention, and the image of the person drifted into vision.

Blood red eyes glared at him, matching the blood that dripped from his elongated claws. It took only a shifting of movement before the vision of horror dispersed, being replaced by a blue eyed boy who was covered in blood. The boy wiped his bloodied hands on his tracksuit, staining the orange fabric yet the colour still remained on his hands.

_... Brother why did you do that?_

"We have to get out of here," he declared, crossing over to the blood soaked boy and reaching towards him.

"No," the boy said, jerking away from it as if burnt.

"They are trying to hunt you." he insisted, scanning around the surroundings. He still had time, they haven't found him yet. It was lucky that he had reached his teammate first, it was lucky that the other shinobis didn't recognize that horrifying last chakra as his, but now that he had returned to normal they would arrive quickly.

"Who authorised it?" came the question from the boy, soft and hesitant yet loud enough to cut into his line of thoughts.

With that statement, asked ever so quietly, so different from the usual loud demands me made, made this situation seem even more real. He despised the way his teammate sounded, the questioned asked so hesitantly as if he feared the answer.

"Our sensei, we have to go now!", he insisted. He was reluctant to respond, knowing the answer would hurt his teammate, but he was not keen to lie. So instead he told the answer, hastily adding in that they had to go, in an attempt to divert the attention from the answer and instead at the more pressing issue at hand.

"No," the boy repeated, backing further away.

Was this boy stupid? Sure he almost failed the test and struggled to reach this far but there was no way he didn't know what would happen if the others find him.

"You don't understand. If they find you, they are going to kill you," he insisted once again, more hurried as he began to sense the chakra of others approaching.

"I can't control it anymore," was the feeble reply, his teammate's face devoid of the usual grin that adorned their face.

"What do you think you are going to accomplish if you are dead," the shinobi asked flatly.

_Hate me. Get stronger. If you die that everything will be in vain._

"I've given up."

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Snatches of tunes escaped from her lips as her pale fingers arranged the flower on several layers of tissue which lay over an open page before covering the flower with yet another two layers of tissue paper, gentle smoothing it out so it was flat before closing the book and placing it back into a shelf. The book looked out of place on her shelf, a thick book that looked like it had seen better days but regardless it served its purpose to assist in the pressing of the flowers that were now enclosed inside the pages of the book.

Her hand moved from the spine of the book, tracing the other books as she attempted to remember in which book she had placed the flowers that would be flat and dry by now. A moment later her hand reached out and pulled out a book, flicking through the yellowing pages, stopping as several pieces of tissue paper drifted out and onto the ground. Discarding the book on her desk for the time being she knelt down on the ground to gently pick up the tissues, opening it to find the pressed flowers.

She placed them on her table, beside a piece of paper she had folded in half. She arranged the flowers on the page, shifting it around as she attempted to decide what would look nice, finally deciding she applied glue to the page and placed the flowers on it, leaving it to dry, later she would write a message on the inside but for now that could wait. She opened the drawer beneath the table and moved the card, flowers and all inside it before closing the drawer, several moments before her door opened.

By then the book was open in front of her, turned to a random page, looking as if that was what she had been doing before she was interrupted. Politely she turned and looked enquiringly at her little sister who was leaning against the frame of the door. Grey eyes identical to hers stared blankly at her in response, before shifting over to the table, lingering too long on the closed drawer.

"Father wants you to deliver a letter," Hanabi said smoothly, outstretching her hand which was holding onto a sealed envelope.

She sprung to her feet, colliding with the table clumsily as she attempted to get out of the chair without sliding it back in her haste to get the envelope. "Thank-you," Hinata answered, taking the offered envelope. "I'll um... go now," she decided, rushing out the door, narrowly missing her younger sister who moved closer towards the door frame to avoid her.

"By the way Onee-chan, there are some flowers on the ground, and you forgot to put the glue in your drawer," Hanabi said lightly.

"Ah! Don't worry about it I'll clean it back when I get home," she answered hastily, her voice raising in panic before she hastened away before her sister would say anything else and possibly discover the half made birthday card.

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Half an hour later she waited in line at the post office, grey eyes scanning over the room, lingering at the posters of missing children. She recognized several of the faces, none of people she knew that well, but of the children she saw around town. The cork-board which usually had so little posters, was full, many of the older posters being completely covered.

There was an increase in kidnapped children lately yet no one saw anything. No one ever saw a child getting kidnapped, no one ever saw a suspicious person lurking around the children. It was a strange case. Authorities had ambushed the slave traders that lurked nearby once but no children of the town were ever found, and yet no body was found either. It was as if the children had just disappeared.

Most likely the reason why Father did not let Hanabi go out as often, and if she had to go out she would be accompanied either by him or by her cousin. It was safe for her to go out though, since the people that disappeared were children, not someone of her age. Despite the fact that she had a small built, no one would think she was a child despite the fact she did not look her true age of sixteen. Moving forward to the counter, now that it was her turn, she handed the envelope to the woman behind the counter, her gaze still fixated on one of the pictures of the posters. The woman followed her gaze, a saddened expression visible in her crimson eyes.

"You shouldn't go by yourself Hinata-chan," Kurenai said, stamping the envelope and placing it in a box.

"I'm fine, the kidnapper wouldn't go after someone of my age," Hinata answered.

"I hope the police solve this incident soon, or at least make it a law that the children should be accompanied by adults, every other second I've been watching those children playing outside, they look safe since they are in a busy area yet," her voice lowered, "the latest one that was kidnapped was a boy from that group, disappeared in a crowded place people say," Kurenai murmured, her eyes moving towards the children playing outside.

In turn, Hinata's gaze shifted to view the children playing, her breath catching as she spotted a cloaked figure lurking close to the children. He was approaching them in a a slow method akin to an animal hunting for prey, yet none of the children or adults seeming to realize and weren't doing anything either. Fearing the worse, Hinata bolted out of the post office, ignoring the surprised call of Kurenai and the people she had bumped into in her haste to get outside.

By now the cloaked stranger had seized the boy, yet no one else seemed to notice. People continued to walk past as if nothing was wrong and the children continued to play. The boy was struggling, but he stood no chance against the adult that had seized him, unable to scream as his mouth was being covered and unable to escape.

"Hey!" she called out, rushing towards the cloaked enigma who was beginning to rush off. Without thinking she rushed after him into an emptier street, seizing hold of his arm and twisting at it, her body remembering the lessons her Father had taught her. With the grip on the boy loosened since the hand on the mouth did little to restrain him, the boy struggled even more, squirming out of the hold and falling onto the ground, recovering quickly to rush behind Hinata.

The stranger twisted out of her grip, hood falling back to reveal a pale snakelike face and sallow eyes. "You can see me?" he murmured, a flicker of interesting appearing in his yellow eyes.

Rationality returned to Hinata, as panic begin to set in, unconsciously stepping back as she recognized the man. The Snake of Sound. One of the most powerful shinobis. One of the exiled, yet he was here in Konoha. His hand jerked forward, a snake shooting out from his sleeve, towards Hinata. It moved too fast that she didn't even have time to dodge it but as it rushed past her she knew it was not intended to her. Turning, but not fast enough she watched the snake coil around the boy and rush back towards its master.

"Unfortunately I don't have time to play with you _hime_, but I can't having you breathe a word about my existence here now can I?" the Snake of Sound, remarked, a cold smile appearing on his lips.

His hands formed into different arrangements, each so fast she could not follow it. Her vision clouded for a moment and by the time it cleared the chakra user was holding the unconscious boy, the snake nowhere in sight.

"You won't be able to tell anyone about this, _hime_," he said before he disappeared.

She sunk to the ground, her legs unable to hold her up as she attempted to calm herself. She thought he was going to kill her, by the words he used she was sure he was going to do something to that extent. She remained sitting on the ground for many minutes before she finally recovered enough of her nerves to stand up and to let the people know what happened.

She walked backed to the post office, approaching the counter looking at the concerned Kurenai. "Are you alright Hinata? You rushed out in a such a hurry," Kurenai asked gently.

'I'm fine,' Hinata brushed her off, or at least that was what she attempted to say. Instead no words came out from her mouth.

Kurenai however did not realize as there was a shout from outside.

"Caught him! We caught the kidnapper!"

Hinata turned to look outside, but she could see nothing as crowds of people were blocking the view. Joining the others who were making their way towards the circle, she pushed past before until she reached the front of the circle. The children were all clutching onto adults, also peering into the circle where one lone adult sat, looking like he had been shoved to the ground which may have been true.

"I saw him try to grab my child," a woman accused.

Hinata moved away from the circle, her hand shaking before she clenched it into a fist. That wasn't the man, and she couldn't even speak to tell the truth. Clarity dawned on her now, that man wasn't lying when he said that he wouldn't let her tell anyone about her existence. Sure he didn't kill her but instead he took away her voice so she could not tell the truth, and even if she could speak who would believe her when some man had already got caught in the act of kidnapping.

Only she knew the truth. She had to let the others know.

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Her initial thought had been to write down what had happened, to let someone know what had happened but rationality sunk in and she knew it would be pointless. No doubt her family would believe her, but she did not want to put them in danger. The stories the parents told their children about the Snake Lord was no doubt only the tip of the iceberg of the evil he was capable of.

What good would it be to let others know? It would not be as if they would be able to do something against such an evil. However she could not just stay at home and pretend that nothing was wrong, and that losing her voice was just due to some accident. She had heard from others, than there was a shinobi around here whom for a fee could assist. Rumors were rumors, she had always thought but right now she was willing to search.

She could not do nothing either. It was like putting a lid to something that smells bad, it would only get worse. There was no point in sticking her head in the sand. She could not ignore what she saw. If that evil person continued to exist, who knew what would happen. He had to be stopped.

Perhaps that shinobi could break the curse, perhaps that shinobi could defeat the Snake of Sound. That was her only hope.

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It was early in the morning when Hanabi entered her sister's room, prepared to wake her up. Her sister was not there, and the bed was neatly made. She reached out and touched the blankets, not feeling any warmth that would have still clung in them had her sister only woken up not too long ago. She would have thought her sister had not returned home at all from yesterday but the additional mess on the table meant her sister had been working.

She crossed over to the table, searching the through the scraps of paper for a note which perhaps her sister had left behind before she left. Maybe she had went out early to buy something, but it was odd that Onee-san would go out without letting her know. Her hands drifted to the drawer, where she knew her birthday card must have been hidden.

She hesitated for a moment before she pulled it open, glancing at the card before breathing a sigh of relief. The card wasn't finished yet, the front was only half completed and the inside was blank. There was still a fortnight until her birthday so it probably meant that Onee-san had just went out to buy something.

Later, if her sister did not come home soon, she would drag her cousin along to help find her Onee-san.

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A/N (3/3/08): Shinobi can refer to ninjas, but in this story it refers to people who can use chakra. I was going to use chakra-user but that sounded un-uber. Senpai means senior. Kouhai means junior. Sensei means teacher. Onee-san means sister.

I'm back with another story, this story is vaguely different to the rest of mine since I had developed the initial ideas from a story, however that doesn't mean it is exactly like that story as I have changed alot of it to make it different and to fit in the world of Naruto fanfics, however it is still AU. As usual I don't own the characters or the story this fanfic is loosely based on.

Oh, can anyone guess that this story is vaguely based on?... and if you got time could you leave a review for me, I would like to know what you guys think of this story. Story was originally going to be called Silenced, but change of mind after staring at water in a game haha. Updates are unknown, hopefully I will continue along with this story.

-Demeterr 


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